Jaume Giró i Ribas (born 1964) is a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

journalist,

corporate executive Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit or ...

and the current Minister of Economy and Finance of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Early life

Giró was born in 1964 in

Badalona Badalona (, , , ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality to the immediate north east of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By popu ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He has a degree in

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, Categorization, classification, manipulation, storage, information retrieval, retrieval, movement, dissemin ...

s from the

University of Navarra , image = UNAV.svg , latin_name = Universitas Studiorum Navarrensis , established = 17 October 1952 , type = Private, Roman Catholic , chancellor = Fernando Ocáriz Braña , president = María Iraburu Eliz ...

(1982-87) and a diploma in

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

and management from

ESADE Esade (Escola Superior d'Administració i Direcció d'Empreses) is a prestigious international private educational institution based in Barcelona, Spain. Esade runs two schools of the university, Esade Business School and Esade Law School, as well ...

(1992-93). During his time at the universities he worked for the ''

Diario de Navarra ''Diario de Navarra'' (also called ''El Diario de Navarra''; Spanish: ''Navarra Daily'') is a Spanish language regional newspaper based in Pamplona, Spain. The paper has been in circulation since 1903. History and profile ''Diario de Navarra'' ...

'' and ''

La Vanguardia ' (; , Spanish for "The Vanguard") is a Spanish daily newspaper, founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan (Spanish copy is automatically translated into Catalan). It has its headquarters in Barcelona and i ...

'' newspapers.

Career

Giró joined

Europa Press The Europa Press was a publishing house founded and run by the Irish surrealist poet George Reavey. The press was based in Paris from its inception in 1932 until 1935, when Reavey moved to London. It ceased operation in 1939. The Europa Press is ...

in 1987, initially as an editor and later as head of the economics section in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. He became head of communications at Catalana de Gas in 1990 and in June 1991, following the merger of Catalana de Gas and Gas Madrid, he was appointed director of external relations at

Gas Natural Naturgy Energy Group S.A''.'', formerly ''Gas Natural Fenosa'' (), is a Spanish multinational natural gas and electrical energy utilities company, which operates primarily in Spain. The company's administrative headquarters are in Barcelona, while ...

. He was promoted to corporate director of external relations at Gas Natural Group in 1994. In November 2004 he was appointed director-general of communication and the presidency of

Repsol Repsol S.A.
El Nuevo Herald, 2012-05-31Originally an init ...

. He was also president of Petrocat (May 2007 to June 2010) and director of

Petronor Petróleos del Norte S.A. (Petronor) is a Spanish oil and gas company based in Muskiz, Basque Country. The company was established on 30 November 1968. From 1976 to 1981 its executive manager was Nemesio Fernández-Cuesta. It is owned by Repsol ...

(April 2007 to April 2009). Between March 2009 and June 2014 he was

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of communication, brand, sponsorships and institutional relations, and later deputy director-general of communication, at

CaixaBank CaixaBank, S.A. (), formerly Criteria CaixaCorp, is a Spanish multinational financial services company. CaixaBank is based in Valencia, with operative offices in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain. It is Spain's third-largest lender by market value, ...

. He became

director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of La Caixa Foundation in June 2014 but left in 2019 due to disagreements with its president Isidre Fainé, including moving the bank's headquarters outside of Catalonia, which Giró opposed, following the

2017 Catalan independence referendum An independence referendum was held on 1 October 2017 in the Autonomous communities of Spain, Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, passed by the Parliament of Catalonia as the Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia and cal ...

(1-O). He currently runs a

consultancy A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

firm providing various services including

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

. On 26 May 2021 he was sworn in as Minister of Economy and Finance in the new government of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Pere Aragonès Pere Aragonès i Garcia (; born 16 November 1982) is a Catalan lawyer and politician from Spain, serving as the President of the Government of Catalonia since 22 May 2021. He previously served between 2018 and 2021 as Vice President and Ministe ...

. In addition to his corporate work, Giró has taught

business communication Business communication is communication that is intended to help a business achieve a fundamental goal, through information sharing between employees as well as people outside the company. It includes the process of creating, sharing, listening, ...

at the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; , es, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; UAB), is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. ...

and ESADE's

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

campus, and for the joint

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

master of journalism BCNY program. He was awarded the Premio Catalunya de Comunicación by the Catalan Association for Communication and Public Relations (Asociación Catalana de Comunicación y Relaciones Públicas) in 2005. In 2007 he was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

by the ESERP Business School for his two decade work in the energy and communication sectors. Giró was president of the Corporate Excellence (Center for Reputation Leadership)

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

, member of the board of directors of the Societat Econòmica Barcelonesa d’Amics del País (SEBAP) and vice-president of the Asociación de Directivos de Comunicación (DIRCOM). Between 2004 and 2009 he was a member of the executive committee of the Comité Ejecutivo del Club Español de la Energía (Enerclub). Between 2017 and 2019 he was president of the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

council of the

Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...

. He is the editor of ''The New Barcelona Post'' and a close associate of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

president

Joan Laporta Joan Laporta Estruch (; born 29 June 1962) is a Spanish politician and current president of FC Barcelona. Laporta is a lawyer (he graduated from the University of Barcelona) with his own firm, Laporta & Arbós, which has a number of notable Sp ...

Personal life

Giró is married and has three daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giró, Jaume 1964 births Aragonès Government Businesspeople from Catalonia ESADE alumni Journalists from Catalonia Living people Economy ministers of Catalonia Finance ministers of Catalonia People from Badalona Spanish chief executives University of Navarra alumni